Ten tailed fox

She had long, smooth black hair, and judging by her eyes, she had to be a darkborn. Blue lipstick adorned her lips, and her dark skin gave off a faint glow. She wore a black yukata, which completed her beauty — but none of those features were what caught the soldiers' attention.

No.

It was the ten fox tails swaying behind her — beautiful to look at, yet clearly more than mere decoration.

Saphire stood in the middle of the small group of ghouls that remained. As her gaze swept over them, they began to shiver. She raised her right arm to the side, palm open. Wind gathered instantly.

The observing soldiers could barely hold their ground — the pull was immense. Trees were ripped from the ground. Even some ghouls were dragged into the force, and the wind swirled into a violent tornado, shredding everything it touched.

Inside the storm, something began to take form.

One soldier — a minotaur — had enough. He charged at Saphire, encasing his body in stone as he moved. Instead of slowing down, his speed increased.

‘Take that, you fucking darkborn!’ he bellowed, seconds before the impact. Saphire reached into the tornado and grabbed the object forming there. The storm vanished at once. The next moment, she stood behind the minotaur, her back facing him, sliding her katana back into its sheath.

And the soldier – he had been cleaved in half. No one saw the slash, too fast, too clean.
Bummm. The minotaur dropped. The remaining soldiers stepped back, shaken.

But one man stepped forward — his arms glinting with diamond.

‘She’s strong. Too strong for us to face. We need Commander Nootra. I’ll keep her busy. One group evacuates the civilians. The rest, go find the commander NOW!’ On some faces there were relief, others lowered their head in shame while others shed some tears. The future of the soldier who had decided to stay behind was clear as crystall. The soldiers dispersed, following the order. Saphire remained still. Calm. Unbothered.

‘How long do you think you can last, human?’ she asked. ‘And someone of you caliber should have felt the presence of another Celestial or not?’

‘Yes! And now what?’

‘I am simply curious. Why did you send them away then? To protect them? But I can just kill you and hunt them down! Or, a smile formed on her face, ‘you trust the Commander enough to take care of the enemy and head your way! Well, I don’t know if the one who engaged in a battle against Dracule is your commander but he’s sure strong!’

The man with diamond arms gulped. The diamond expanded towards his whole body.

‘Yes, I trust our Commander and even he can’t make it I will be the shield to protect my people, even if it’s a Celestial!’

‘You seem to know our ranks well, human! Then you must also know you stand no chance. Still,’ she drew her black katana, ‘out of respect for your courage, I shall face you one-on-one. But first, tell me your name, courageous one.’

‘You can call me Dara — the Human Diamond.’

‘Well, Dara… I am Saphire, the Ten-Tailed Fox. I praise your humans for making our power your own, however, that won’t be enough to save you!’

Tornados erupted around them, tearing apart the forest. The sky turned dark.

In the hospital
Dean twisted mid-air and landed cleanly. Just in time, he dodged John's swinging fist — but the leg that followed slammed him to the ground. John leapt and closed in on Larah. She was afraid — yes — but Hope was in her arms, and that gave her the strength to swallow her fear. Rage surged through her. She headbutted John. It was her who winced and stepped back.

John backhanded her — once, then again. Larah collapsed to her knees but still held Hope tightly. Her vision blurred, and it took everything in her to remain conscious. John yanked Hope from her arms. Sark, who couldn’t shoot, ran toward them.

Larah’s scream brought Dean back to his senses — but John had already burst through the wall, and the next, and the next… gone. Larah remained frozen, staring at her empty arms.

‘I couldn’t protect her… Fuuuuuccckkk! Arghhhhhhh!’ She was not her mother but she mourned Hope just as if she as her own. And as Larah let out her agony another emotion came to the surface – hate. Hate for the one who had taken her child. However, that hate would grow to something immense!

On the battlefield
Blood rained down. The only one shielding them was Commander Nootra. There was no time to form another plan. He had to use his final card — his last transformation. He let out a cry that shook the very earth.

‘That’s it!’ Dracule roared.

‘Hahahaha! Let’s fight each other to the death!’ Cracks appeared across Nootra’s body, glowing with light. The cracks spread — then his body exploded, revealing a new form. Smaller than before. Fur covered him, except for his chest and stomach. His mane remained, and his muscular build, though less massive, still radiated power. He raised his arms. A shield formed above the battlefield, made of light and silver energy, deflecting the bloody rain.

Dracule conjured a blood lance, its tip humming with corruption. He hurled it at Nootra.
Nootra slashed the air — blades of energy flew to meet the blood weapon.

BOOOOOOOM.

Some kilometers away
Seraphina was en route to Behills Hospital when she ran into a group of light priests and white ghouls.

‘Those eyes!’ one priest exclaimed. ‘Are you… immune?’

‘No.’

‘Then you must be a high priest!’

Among both dark and light priests, there were some who had formed contracts with brightborns or darkborns — not quite immune, but something like it. Nighyel belonged to them, however, her acces to the darkborns power was still limited. There was a contract that granted a person even more power, however, the praise was the soul itself.

Seraphina tilted her head.

‘Rather, what are you doing here?’

‘We’re heading to Behills Hospital. After the dark priests or the soldiers win, they’ll be exhausted. That’s when we’ll strike! Hahahaha! And you should join us!’

‘I see.’ Seraphina stretched her neck. Her eyes shifted — gold at the center, the edges black.

‘You’re… you’re an brightborn!’ a light priest gasped. ‘But… how? Wait I saw you before. You did not cross over through a ghoul. You were here from the beginning!’

‘What do you mean?’ another priest asked.

‘I mean that she belongs to the princess, the traitor. A brightborn , no artifact and then her name – Seraphina’ –

‘Well, no use playing dumb now!’ Seraphina uttered, delight. The air around her turned heavy, straining the priests. Some even collapsed to the ground but others remained up. And even the ghouls had problems moving. ‘Good. I was getting tired of spying on your lot. Honestly, you're all insane. Now die.’